Wednesday, March 18, 2026

From Family Lore to Reality: The Untold Story of My Dad's Bigfoot Encounter | Ken Hulsey


Over the years, I have been compiling stories about Bigfoot from eyewitnesses and writing articles about them. The most notable of these was co-written with my wife, Terri, and is titled "A Brief History of Bigfoot in Southern California." That piece was featured on the official Anza-Borrego Desert Park website at one point. Throughout my years of researching the Sasquatch mystery, I never realized that I had grown up in the same house as someone who had their own sighting.


My father, Joseph Hulsey, had been keeping a secret. For nearly 35 years, he remained tight-lipped about his encounter with a mysterious creature while on a hunting trip. Over those decades, my father and I watched numerous Bigfoot documentaries and TV shows, including the infamous episode where he fought the Six-Million-Dollar Man. He often recounted stories shared by fellow hunters about the creature. He also kept an out-of-place copy of the November 1968 issue of Natural Wildlife Magazine, which featured a story about the famous Roger Patterson film of Bigfoot, among his collection of hunting magazines. Although I always had my suspicions, my father passed away in 1995 without ever sharing his personal sighting with me.

It seems the only people he ever confided in were my brother Jim and his wife, Dava. Recently, after I reposted my well-known Bigfoot article, my sister-in-law asked if I had ever heard about Dad's sighting. Upon expressing my surprise and ignorance, she kindly shared the story with me.

According to the account, my dad and a group of fellow hunters were camping off Highway 395 near Walker, California, sometime in the early 1960s. The group enjoyed a steak lunch and tossed their bones and leftovers beneath a nearby tree. They then embarked on a late afternoon hunt. When they returned to their camp around dusk, they discovered an animal rummaging around near the tree where they had left the steak remnants. Approaching the animal, they assumed it was a bear. However, when the animal noticed the men coming closer, it stood upright and began to knock on the tree with its fist. My dad quickly realized that what they were facing was not a bear at all, but a very large humanoid creature covered in hair. The creature seemed to understand it was outnumbered and, instead of attacking, simply walked off into the nearby forest. None of the hunters, including my father, raised their guns to shoot the creature, believing that what they saw might have been some sort of primitive human being.



In this landmark work on a subject too often dismissed as paranormal or disreputable, Jeffrey Meldrum gives us the first book on Sasquatch to be written by a scientist with impeccable academic credentials. He gives an objective look at the facts in a field mined with hoaxes and sensationalism.

Meldrum reports on the work of a team of experts from a wide variety of fields who were assembled to examine the evidence for a large, yet undiscovered, North American primate. He reviews the long history of this mystery--which long predates the "Bigfoot" flap of the late fifties--and explains all the scientific pros and cons in a clear and accessible style, amplified by over 150 illustrations.

Anyone who has pondered the mysteries of human evolution will be fascinated and eager to join Dr. Meldrum in drawing their own conclusion.

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Blessings: We often forget that everything in life, including life itself, is a blessing from God. As a man of faith I thank God during my daily prayer for all those blessings He has bestowed upon myself and my family. If you ever want to know just how blessed you really are? Just take a few moments to look around you. There are many people who are having a much harder time getting through their daily life than you are. Take time to pray for those people. Even though it may not seem like it to the casual observer, The Lord is taking care of them as well. We live in a world full of distractions. From cell phones to television our daily lives are filled with things that take our minds off our problems as well as God. I urge you to take the time to look around you. There is a beautiful world out there. Instead of watching another cute cat video, watch some children playing, look at a sunset or if you have the means take a walk in the woods. The miracle of God's creation is all around you and is a much more wonderful show than anything on the television or internet. Take every opportunity to disconnect from technology and grow closer to God through enjoyment of his wonders.

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